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Tired of the hearing about Coronovirus?
As small business owners, we are living in unprecedented times during Corona . . . HOLD UP!
We have ALL heard that line so much it makes my ears bleed! There is a new “C-word” in town and as a business owner I am over it. I am over the constant news cycle talking about it. I am over business owners complaining that we are shut down because of it. Now, before I get hate mail from this, I will take ownership and say I was one of those people but now it is time to move past that. The question for some of us is, “Are you really shut down during Corona?”
Now, I know that question may anger some. . . YES, Meredith. . . we are shut down but the reality is . . . you aren’t. One of my friends put it this way:
While the tide is out, work on the dock!
What does that mean? It means that list of 3,000 things you always meant to do . . . now is the time to do them. As business owners, we often get so busy working in our business that we forget to work on our business to improve it and make it better. As photographers — and I am guilty of this as well — we attend conferences but don’t actually implement anything we learn. We come home with that list of 3,000 things the “good idea fairy” plopped in our laps but we never actually get around to them.
So, let me ask you again, are you really shut down?
Easy for you to say!
If I was reading this same article two weeks ago, I probably would have spit out several choice words and shut down my laptop, angry at what Corona was doing to my business. Honestly, I think many of us were sitting in that mindset and some of us still are. While it is ok to be pissed and angry, it solves nothing if we sit in that permanently. It doesn’t move our business forward. We should never operate our business on a month-to-month mindset but rather a 1, 5, and 10-year plan. As I sit writing this, my kids are on a spring break we hadn’t planned on. I am two weeks into homeschooling for the first time and even though I have a teaching degree, this has NOT been easy. But, this is our new normal and I can continue to complain about it or I can boss up!
I can either let my business fall apart or I can roll up my sleeves and get crap done!
So now what?
Now is the time to focus on what to do after Corona. Most of us have never lived through the threat of an economic downturn like we are seeing right now. Many of you are asking how me how to even restart your businesses after this mess calms down.
How to restart your business.
I come from a background of having to restart my photography business over and over and over again. Can I be honest, IT SUCKS!
Is it hard? YES
Does it take hustle? YES
Does it make my business stronger? YES
But here’s the thing. . . you can’t let the fire go out of your business or it is ten times harder to start that engine back up.
So over the next couple of weeks I am going to be tackling some of the key areas to work on while we are stuck at home and watching Tiger King. Things that we as photographers and business owners forget to do or need help doing better. Want to join in on the conversation? Check back here each week and then join the conversation here: Restart FB Group.
Meredith Ryncarz is a former college art professor turned photographer (Meredith Ryncarz Photography) and creative business coach (The Restart Specialist) in Savannah, Georgia. She is an Army wife and a momma to two crazy minions. She is obsessed with helping photographers develop a flexible and efficient business model that enables them to thrive in the market they are in or the market they want to be in. An INFJ with a pursuit for deep conversations held over a glass of whisky, Meredith can be found at the nearest whole in the wall restaurant with her kids and husband when she isn’t working.